pic credit: Shutterstock
For two Papa John's pizzas, a guy paid 10,000 Bitcoin in 2010. He paid around $40 for the trade at the time, but that amount in Bitcoin now is $422,108,434.That narrative has lingered in the minds of everybody who has considered utilising their cryptocurrency as currency.
However, things have evolved dramatically since then, and there have never been more opportunities to utilize your cryptocurrency to purchase some weird goods and services in the real world.
Death was paid in cryptocurrency
pic credit: Crescent tied funeral
So let's start with the end in mind since you can genuinely pay for a funeral in crypto, whether it's for yourself or a loved one. Crescent Tied Funeral Services in Minnesota will accept bitcoin payments, and they were ahead of the curve on this.
They've been doing this since 2014, and while it may seem a little strange, I think it makes sense that if a crypto investor dies, their family may spend the money to bury or cremate them as long as they know the seed phrase and reside in Minnesota. Let's not get too caught up in the logistics here
BitGold
Another product I wanted to investigate reported on a gold mine that you can buy with Bitcoin. And for you, crypto folk wondering what gold is. You can think of it like Bitcoin if Bitcoin were a rock that you can hold. That's gold.
This mine is for sale for about $2 million in Bitcoin, meaning you could parlay your digital store of value into a physical one. The real trick here would be if this mine happens to also sit in an opportunity zone so you don't have to pay capital gains tax on your Bitcoin sale. Who knows?
Now, the original listing could be found on a now-defunct luxury website and I couldn't find confirmation whether it had actually been sold or not. If anyone did buy the property, it would have come with about $1 million worth of mining equipment and the potential to produce about 4000oz of gold per year, about $7.2 million worth.
Honestly, it seems a little bit too good to be true. But then again, that's coming from someone who knows literally nothing about gold mining.
And because of this, I did send out a few feelers to other gold mines for sale because it turns out you can actually own a gold mine for less than the average home price. So something tells me that offering Bitcoin to any of these sellers won't get me very far, but it's not going to stop me.
Armor of Boujee
pic credit: Google Images
Now, luxury items have been a part of the crypto narrative for over a decade, and I believe this is because early Bitcoin investors envisioned themselves with 500 Bitcoin and no girlfriend. The logical next step is to buy a Lamborghini.
Fortunately, there are multiple online markets where you can buy Lamborghinis, gold jewelry, mansions, and even that $11,000 Vitalik Buterin artwork. Unfortunately, that treasure is no longer available.
However, I did come upon this 18th-century Samurai gear. Now, I'm not a historian, so I can't comment on the artifact's legitimacy, but I can tell you that purchasing this bad boy might put you one step closer to getting that girlfriend. Because if there's one thing I've learned about ladies, it's that they adore dubious 18th-century Samurai gear in particular.
Crypto Goats
Let's go back on track since I discovered that you could buy Somalian goats with cryptocurrency back in the day. The idea was that this would operate as a form of financial mechanism to assist farmers in raising livestock in exchange for a little return on animal sales at a later point.
The concept, believe it or not, did not take off. "Goats were never our mission," the project later stated. I believe this is an excuse because the goat and sheep farm was beset with problems from the start. Let me tell you, I was hooked at this point. I was curious as to what had happened to this farm.
So I dug a little farther and discovered that they had received a total investment of around $75,000. Things weren't going well, though, since they claimed, and I quote, "figuring out the payback has not been simple."
So you're telling me they're like, "The math here has been difficult, but I don't think we'll be able to repay you." Jim has been working on a spreadsheet all day. And he hasn't figured it out yet. I just don't believe it will work out.
So I had to dig a little more to figure out what exactly went wrong on this farm because remember, they mentioned they were having troubles, and it turns out they had a situation where someone took hundreds of animals and never paid them back. And that slowed them down a little.
pic credit: Google Images
Ali farm, however, did not end there. "Our final office was damaged by an explosion in February," the end arrived. This is true, as evidenced by photographs. As a result of a sequence of terrible circumstances, they were compelled to rebrand, shifting their focus away from those pesky goats and toward assisting farmers in the construction of greenhouses, fish ponds, and camel dairy farms.
Scary Plant and Spicy Crypto
So, moving on, bitcoin can be used to purchase Venus flytraps. For around $60, Wicked Botany will sell you an extraterrestrial Venus Flytrap. You may also pay in crypto for entirely other sorts of plants, and I'm not talking about a specific herb that may or may not be accessible on the Silk Road. In return for cryptocurrency, Pexpeppers will offer you their Solar Fuego spicy sauce.
Buy Citizenship with Crypto
pic credit: Google Images
The story goes, a couple of years ago, Satoshi Island was available for lease for 20 years for the surprisingly reasonable price of $495,000, of course, payable in Bitcoin and someone took the deal.
A company called Satoshi Island Limited is offering citizenship to the island for just 21,000 established NFT investors. All you need to do is buy one of their NFTs and citizenship is yours, kind of.
A company called Satoshi Island Limited is offering citizenship to the island for just 21,000 established NFT investors. All you need to do is buy one of their NFTs and citizenship is yours, kind of. They don't give you immediate citizenship, but the company will expedite your application for citizenship.
Being an NFT holder means you'll be able to visit the island when it opens up. And once you're there, NFT holders will be able to vote on the policies that govern the island. And looking at their bizarre requirements, it kind of sounds like it's part crypto bro, part Lord of flies, and part Fyre fest, all in one island.
There are a few simple rules to be a member, you need to, and I quote, be actively engaging with crypto Twitter. Meaning you need to have an account with at least 21 followers, and follow them on Twitter. Second, when you apply, you actually have tweeted your application to them. And third, you need to have an active OpenSea account and Ethereum address and that seems to be about it.
Now, what I like about Satoshi Island is they don't bother you with pesky government background checks, nor ask about your citizenship status. Because, let's be honest, that's no one's business.
Bottomline
Now, I know that articles like these contribute to the industry's relative obscurity. But the fact is that spending cryptocurrency legitimizes it, even if just a little bit. It's unsurprising that the first use of your cryptocurrency is to buy Somalian goats.
Taxes and volatility are the actual concerns. It's not ideal to purchase anything with an asset that may be worth 10% more or less tomorrow. Using crypto as payment is a taxable event, and it's not desirable to buy something with an asset that could be worth 10% more or less tomorrow.
As a result, we'll likely see a rise in the usage of stablecoins as a means of exchange, as well as current businesses that enable you to pay with crypto wherever you are via cash conversions. That is, you could use your cryptocurrency to purchase a magic money printer on Amazon, an industrial drinking fountain, or whatever else you choose.
